1. For the purpose of this policy a “worker” is anyone who is engaged in work with children or young people, whether as a paid employee, seasonal worker or volunteer.
2. Where either “children” or “young people” are mentioned in the text, both are intended. Although these terms may be defined differently in various pieces of legislation, the definition of “child” under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is a person under 18. To promote best practice, it is this definition that is adopted throughout this policy.
3. While the following policy and procedure must be followed in all cases related to the protection of children, Inspiration will also use these procedures when necessary to protect vulnerable adults.
1. Inspiration’s Statement of Purpose
Inspiration is committed to the protection from abuse of children and young people who use our services and to preventing such abuse occurring or continuing. Inspiration will ensure that all children and young people who use our services will be protected, supported and made aware of their rights in this area. All workers are charged with this responsibility.
We do this by:
1.1 introducing workers to the organisation’s child protection procedures and emphasising the mandatory nature of them;
1.2 training workers at all levels to act responsibly when they encounter actual or suspected instances of child abuse. This should include providing adequate information on this policy and the procedures attached to it as part of the induction process for new staff;
1.3 ensuring that every service has a named person who has the responsibility to link with statutory agencies and other interested voluntary agencies in the area of child protection. These names and contacts should be published within the organisation.
2. Practice Principles
2.1 The needs of young people for safety and protection from harm are the paramount consideration in all our work.
2.2 Our work seeks to empower young men and women and ensure that they are aware of the choices that they can make in a situation. We should aim to protect young people when they are weak and support them when they are strong.
2.3 Our work with young people seeks to value and respect their views and opinions, respond to their right to be involved in decisions about their future, and are committed to the right of young people to be protected from harm.
2.4 All allegations of abuse must be taken seriously and understood from the perspective of the victim.
2.5 All decisions about the appropriate response to a young person’s needs must be made in the light of an informed understanding of their circumstances and the choices available to them.
2.6 Support should not cease when the immediate crisis has been dealt with but should be on-going and should respond to the needs and pace of the individual.
3. Child Protection Policy
3.1 Inspiration’s services to children and young people are provided within the framework of protective child care legislation and accompanying regulations and guidance. Inspiration is committed to working within guidelines issued by Area Child Protection Committees and will give every assistance to local authority social services/social work departments in carrying out their statutory child protection responsibilities.
3.2 Inspiration has a duty to protect children both from accidental harm and from abuse which may be caused wilfully or through neglect. Making arrangements for the proper supervision of children and young people is one of the most effective ways of minimising opportunities for them to suffer harm of any kind. Workers and volunteers should ensure that health and safety procedures are rigorously followed at all times.
3.3 In cases where Inspiration suspects a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer significant harm, this will be reported to the appropriate authority, which will take the primary lead in investigating and implementing action (see Paragraph 5.1). Where it has not been possible for the local authority to take appropriate action, Inspiration will take whatever steps are practicable to protect the child within the scope of legal limitations.
3.4 The basis of an effective child protection service must be that professional and individual agencies work together on a multi-disciplinary basis, with a shared mutual understanding of aims, objectives and of what is good practice. This should take into account the sensitive issues associated with gender, race, religion, language, culture and disability.
3.5 The welfare of the child is paramount. In every case, the child is the primary client, whatever the philosophies or practice adopted in a project.
3.6 The development of appropriate skills and knowledge to maximise the protection of children and young people must be a priority within every service.
3.7 It is important to involve and consult parents/guardians in child protection work, where this is possible and with the consent of the young person, but the principle of working alongside parents or guardians must not hamper the paramount objective of protecting the child/young person.
3.8 All workers must allow the interests of a child to be considered distinctly from the interests of the parents or other carers.
3.9 Priority over all other work will be given to the action necessary to protect a child when there is possible evidence of child abuse.
4. The nature of child abuse
4.1 What is child abuse?
4.1.1 Inspiration adopts the definition of abuse as quoted in Barnardo’s Child Protection Policy:
A child or young person is abused when another individual (adult or child), who is in a position of greater power than the victim (by virtue of age, experience and/or emotional maturity and/or intellectual and/or gender and/or physical strength), abuses that power/trust and exposes the child of young person to neglect, physical injury, sexual and/or emotional abuse.
Sexual abuse may involve intercourse (anal, oral, vaginal), sexual touching, exposure of sexual organs, showing pornographic material or talking in a sexualised way.
4.2 Evidence
4.2.1 There will be some cases of child abuse in which a child is seen on a single occasion to have injuries which immediately arouse suspicion that they are of a non-accidental origin. In these circumstances the injuries are direct evidence of child abuse which should immediately set in train an investigation within the local child abuse procedures.
4.2.2 It is very important that projects keep records in such a way that cumulative evidence of possible child abuse can be discerned. Often the local authority will be building a picture of abuse from a variety of sources of information and the sharing by services forms a significant contribution to this profile. Very often, abuse can be fully understood and recognised only in an historical context and evidence of child abuse must be seen as cumulative. It is not just what is occurring now which should be judged as possible evidence of child abuse but also what is known from the child’s history.
4.2.3 Not all evidence will be based on overtly physical symptoms or by a child reporting information. For workers working with children and young people with poor communication skills, in particular, it will be necessary to find relevant and appropriate way so of communicating with the child or young person.
4.3 Abusers
4.3.1 The person who perpetrates child abuse can be anyone including a natural parent or relative, foster carer, respite carer, adopter, member of staff, volunteer, teacher, natural or foster sibling, friend of neighbour. There is increasing evidence of children and young people abusing other children and young people.
4.3.2 All workers should be alert to any indication that a colleague is behaving inappropriately in respect of a child or young person. Any such suspicion should be discussed with a senior member of staff who should consider it in the context of 3.2 and 4.2.2 above and decide whether to invoke Inspiration’s disciplinary procedure.
5. Investigation of alleged abuse
5.1 The power to investigate
A local authority social services department has a duty to investigate (or cause to be investigated) all cases of suspected child abuse including that by members of workers, carers, siblings and other children. Action taken by Inspiration workers who hold possible evidence of child abuse should be directed at giving information to local authority social services departments to enable them to carry out their investigatory and protective duties. Two other agencies have powers to investigate child abuse; the police and the National Association for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). There may be circumstances where a local authority social services department is unable to respond, or a child is in immediate danger, where investigation by police is best. There may be local arrangements where the NSPCC has a particular role to play. The local authority should be informed where information is passed to the police or the NSPCC for investigation.
5.2 Inspiration staffs have no powers to investigate child abuse (except where an allegation is against a staff member). However, workers do have a responsibility to take steps to protect children from abuse. All members of staff should feel able to act in good faith on their own initiative to take immediate, common sense steps and make common sense decisions to protect a child, without fear of censure from the organisation. They must however, report the steps taken to their line manager as soon as possible.
5.3 Inspiration staff must co-operate with any investigation and keep clear, factual records on the situation.
6. General procedural requirements
6.1 Working co-operatively with local authorities
Each of Inspiration’s services should have a named contact person in each local authority area where there is a formal link established, to ensure that there is an understanding of accountability and anticipated procedural steps. Project staff may also find it beneficial to make contact with the voluntary organisation representative on the Area Child Protection Committee.
6.2 Copies of the procedure
Each manager must ensure that their project/scheme has copies of the child protection procedures for:
· The authority in which the project is situated.
· The authorities with whom the project works in partnerships.
6.3 Child protection statement for users and volunteers
All projects must have a copy of the relevant Inspiration statement setting out their child protection approach within the context of the overall philosophy and practice of the work of the project, as well as this policy. This statement will be reviewed annually. The purpose of this statement is:
· To provide information for project users on the responsibilities of, and approach taken by, the project in the protection of children and young people. The statement should be part of the information provided to the users of our services.
· To provide information and guidance for volunteers as to the responsibilities and expectations of the project in carrying out child protection functions.
· To ensure service users and volunteers understand that if abuse is disclosed this information cannot remain confidential and that Inspiration will report it to the appropriate authority.
All staff, carers, volunteers, parents and young people should receive a copy of the service’s statement.
6.4 Training
It is the responsibility of the service manager to ensure that all staff has the training necessary to identify and deal with child abuse. Staff training and development plan must include training on child protection; practice in this area must be reviewed annually.
6.5 Records and cumulative evidence
This section must be read in conjunction with any relevant confidentiality policy.
6.5.1 As the records will be shared with children and parents they require sensitive handling. Managers must ensure that records are kept in such a way that cumulative evidence of possible child abuse can be clearly discerned. It is essential for all projects that any noticeable change of behaviour or appearance associated with the child or young person’s welfare is systematically recorded.
6.5.2 Records must be factual (rather than including subjective comments) with clear dates and times so that they may be used as evidence in court if this proves necessary. They should be signed by the person who wrote them and dated. In accordance with good supervisory practice, line managers should read and countersign child protection records routinely.
7. Action on occurrence or suspicion of child abuse
7.1 Immediate threat
Faced with a situation offering an immediate threat to a child, the member of staff involved should:
· Respond to the safety of the child
· Consult with a senior member of staff
· Implement the child protection procedures
· Write down immediately what they saw or were told and what they did.
· Where there is a possibility of adverse publicity, inform the Director or Finance Manager
7.2 A child for whom there is concern
When any worker believes they have witnessed, in services where young people or children are catered for, possible evidence of child abuse, they must inform the most senior member of staff in the project immediately. Faced with information which is possible evidence of child abuse, the project/scheme manager or senior member of staff has no choice other than to relay the information with the full historical context to the appropriate local authority contact person. By ‘witness’ it is meant, for example, observing a suspicious mark on a child, observing sexualised behaviour, relating something a child says to other recent events (ie.putting ‘two and two together’) or discerning a worrying pattern from reading the records.
7.3 Information about possible child abuse has to be set in the context of the particular situation. Discussion with other relevant people must result in a decision about whether the information is possible evidence of abuse. There should be discussion about whether an investigation in accordance with Inspiration’s child protection procedures is necessary.
7.4 Particular difficulties arise when a child or young person alleges abuse and clearly does not want an investigation to ensue or when there is an admission by a young perpetrator because no guarantees of confidentiality can be given to children and young people wanting to disclose abuse. The management of such situations will depend upon good inter-agency co-operation and projects should endeavour to clarify with the local authority how such issues can be handled sensitively. Such disclosures must be discussed immediately with the senior member of staff on duty and a strategy for managing the situation discussed with the local authority.
7.5 Particular care is needed where child abuse is alleged to have been carried out by another child or young person. In these situations it is important that the child protection procedures are instigated for both the victim and the alleged abuser.
7.6 Close co-operation between agencies is essential within the local guidelines in collating evidence.
7.7 Referrals of possible child abuse to local authorities by word of mouth or over the phone must always be confirmed in detail in writing within 24 hours. The report should contain details of the evidence received by the project (including cumulative evidence) with appropriate dates, times, action taken and the names and designations of people contacted, together with any outcome known at that stage.
There are additional notification requirements in England and Wales where a young person who is in care or being accommodated is the subject of abuse by staff, visitors or other children.
7.8 Only the local authority social services department, the NSPCC and the police have formal authority to investigate. It is not the role of Inspiration staff to evaluate the evidence.
7.9 The training manager needs to feel satisfied by:
· The action the local authority will be taking, in the light of its investigation, to protect the child in the interim period before a case conference
· The action the local authority expects of Inspiration. The local authority will normally be responsible for convening a case conference.
8. Action where a child is on the Child Protection Register
Where it is found that a child or young person attending a project is already on the child protection register, it is essential that the training manager notifies the local authority and obtains the fullest information. Particular attention should be paid to getting agreements, in writing, as to Inspiration’s role.
9. Young people over 16 years of age
9.1 Young people aged 16 and 17 are entitled to be afforded the protection of child welfare agencies and to due recognition of their rights and responsibilities under the law.
9.2 The Children Act 1989 promotes the need to take account of the wishes of young people in accordance with their age and understanding as well as giving them rights to withhold consent to medical examination and to have their wishes taken into account in all decisions relating to their welfare. Legal precedents have reinforced the rights to self-determination which have to be weighed against parental responsibility and statutory protection.
9.3 The Children Act 1989 defines a child as being a person under 18 years of age and as such every local authority has a general duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of these “children”. While acknowledging the rights of young people to a response appropriate to their age and legal status, we owe a common standard of protection to all children and young people and as such these guidelines apply to all young people under the age of 18.
9.4 Whilst some local authorities may be reluctant to act in cases of abuse of 16 and 17 year olds, it should be remembered that the authority does have a duty to do so. As such the guidelines for children under 16 would broadly apply to this group.
9.5 In England and Wales the Children Act 1989 places a duty on local authorities to “advise, assist and befriend” young people who are under the age of 21 years and who at any time between the ages of 16 and 18 were:
· Looked after by a local authority
· Accommodated by or on behalf of a voluntary organisation
· Accommodated in a registered children’s home
· Accommodated by any health authority or local education authority; or in any residential care home, nursing home or mental nursing home, for a consecutive period of a least three months
· Privately fostered.
9.6 Projects work with young people in various settings and respond to their needs in different ways. This may include work with young people within their own home and in supported accommodation, with homeless young people with young people in training centres and outreach and street work with vulnerable and difficult to reach young people. Young people are not a homogenous group and our response to their need for protection must be focused on their individual situation and needs.
9.7 While young people are entitled to the same degree of protection as other children, the operation of these procedures with this age group must take account of the young person’s maturity and ability to participate in the process of their own protection.
9.8 No guarantees of confidentiality can be given to young people wishing to allege abuse. It is important that workers make clear to young people the restrictions on their ability to offer a confidential relationship.
9.9. If a child discloses abuse to a staff member or volunteer Inspiration will
· Stay calm and listen carefully to what is being disclosed
· offer support without making false promises
· Reassure the young person that s/he was right to disclose what happened and that the abuse is not her/his fault.
· Discuss this with the Project Manager who will decide on the appropriate course of action, which may involve taking advice from the Area Child Protection Unit.
· Keep a factual record of the disclosure and subsequent action.
9.10. If the abuse occurred previously and the child is no longer in danger intervention by social services may not be necessary and some other form of help may be more appropriate e.g. counselling, group therapy or a referral to the family consultation service. However, if the abuser is likely to be a danger to other children, a referral to social services will be necessary.
10 Working with Young Parents.
10.1. Projects working with young parents must recognise that, while the interests of mother and child may be inextricably linked, they may well be the focus of separate child protection assessments. Recording practices within projects should therefore reflect this.
10.2. If there are suspicions of abuse or neglect
If a member of staff or a volunteer suspects that abuse or neglect of a child is taking place they should discuss this as soon as possible with the a Manager or Director.
Inspiration will:
· assess whether action is needed urgently
· Work with the young mother raising concerns and offering advice and assistance.
· monitor the situation carefully
· Liaise with other professionals involved, which may include health visitors and the young woman's social worker if she has one.
· Keep a factual record of all incidents or causes for concern.
If concerns about the welfare of the child continue, the situation will be discussed with the mother and she will be made aware of the Child Protection Policy. Every effort will be made to work with the mother, including offering support and practical help. After consultation with the mother it may be considered necessary to involve an outside agency.
10.3. If a referral is to be made to Social Services, the mother must be informed. It may possible to encourage her to speak to Social Services herself. She has a right to see the written report, unless it is felt that this might place the child or a staff member or volunteer in danger. Inspiration will aim to support the mother/carer and if necessary, will outline her support needs to Social Services.
10.4. If a child has been seriously injured
Inspiration will ensure that the child is immediately taken to hospital or doctor. Consent is to be obtained from the mother except in exceptional cases if the parent is unavailable. Ideally the mother should take the child to hospital with a staff member accompanying her to provide support. If there is any indication that the injury is non-accidental or due to neglect, the consultant or GP is likely to order an investigation.
10.5. Inspiration will record the injury that the child has sustained as soon as possible noting anything that was said about how this happened. We will also seek to provide support for both the mother/carer and the child.
10.6. If there is an injury or bruising, it is essential discuss how this happened with the mother. This should be recorded. It will be helpful to consult a health visitor if there are concerns that an injury may not be accidental. If the injury does not appear to be consistent with the explanation given, this should be discussed the Project Manager or Senior Support Worker and if necessary a referral should be made to Social Services.
10.6. In cases of emotional abuse or neglect the concern may not be confided to an isolated incident, so it is very important to record observations over a period of time. If the abuse continues a meeting should be set up with the mother to discuss the situation and any support needs. A decision may be reached to work with the mother over a stated period of time. The staff may decide to involve outside professionals (e.g. a health visitor or a family centre) or a child protection referral may be made to Social Services.
11. Case management and support for workers
11.5. If a child protection conference is called, the appropriate designated member/s of staff will normally be expected to attend. If the child is placed on the child protection register, the name and address of the child protection key worker in the case should be established and clearly recorded in the project records.
11.6. The management of the case will be agreed at the case conference and will be recorded in the case conference minutes. It is the responsibility of the project manager to ensure that the role outlined for Inspiration in the case conference is carried out on a day-to-day basis.
11.7. It is up to the project manager to appraise their line manager of difficulties or problems in the area of child protection on a day-to-day basis if necessary.
11.8. The project manager should ensure that the project is kept fully informed of a case by the referring agency. In the event of paucity of information or, in the view of the project manager, inadequate practice by the investigating authority, the project manager must take this up orally and in writing with the relevant manager in the local authority. In the absence of a satisfactory situation being established the project/scheme manager should take this up with the area manager as a matter of priority.
11.9. Child protection can be challenging and stressful. Inspiration recognises that while staff may be competent and feel confident in exercising their professional judgement when undertaking this work, they should always have access to support, and the stressful nature of the work should not be underestimated.
12. Good Practice.
12.1. Minimising Harm
Workers should share information about their work with young people both with their line manager and with other colleagues as appropriate. Confidences cannot always be kept and young people should be warned about that before disclosure is encouraged and/or accepted. If in any doubt, workers should always first consult their line manager.
12.2. Staff and volunteers need to keep accurate, factual written records of any situation that may cause them concern. These records should be brought to the attention of the line manager as soon as possible.
13. Risk Assessments
13.1. Both history and current circumstances should be look at in looking at risk to the service user in question as well as other service users.
14. Providing Information
14.1. All new staff must be made aware of Inspiration’s Child Protection policy. Staff should also include information on these issues when inducting young people into their scheme.
14.2 Staff must be made aware of the Confidentiality policy and understand that they cannot promise a young person to keep their disclosure of abuse confidential. Staffs have a responsibility to report any such disclosure following the procedure below.
14.3. All young people must be given a statement outlining Inspiration’s commitment to child protection and told about mechanisms for taking any concerns further, as part of their induction to any Inspiration scheme. They should be made able to feel able to raise concerns with staff, while understanding what action may have to be taken as a result.
15. Staff Practices
15.1. Staff should ensure that referring agencies provide any information pertinent to the welfare of a young person on the scheme; for example, if the child is or has been on the Child Protection Register. Staff should use that organisation’s complaints procedure if information is unreasonably withheld.
15.2. Supervision and support sessions should be use to discuss relationships with service users.
15.3. Child protection and working relationships with service users should be regular items on staff meeting agendas.
15.4. Staff must be aware that under no circumstances should they:
· Discuss service users or staff with other service users
· Have sexual relationships with service users of their own or any other Inspiration project
· Accept responsibility for, or impose any direct control over the management of service users’ finances
· Collude with service users who may be breaking the law
· Enter into any arrangement or relationship with a service user, which is likely to impede the worker’s ability to maintain a proper professional relationship with them.
15.5. Incidents of staff failing to comply with these guidelines are likely to result in disciplinary action for misconduct, as detailed in Inspiration’s Disciplinary Procedures.
15.6. In addition, in order to enable staff and volunteers to work effectively with service users within a project, staff should ensure that:
· Previous knowledge of new service users should be disclosed to line managers and colleagues immediately
· Working relationships between staff and service users are discussed openly at team meetings and in supervision
· Any personal self-disclosure by staff to service users is appropriate to the working relationship and is recorded
· They do not carry out any work with service users while they are on annual or sick leave.
15.7. Incidents of staff failing to follow these guidelines may result in disciplinary action for unsatisfactory work performance as detailed in Inspiration’s Disciplinary Procedures. Staff anxious about the nature of their working relationships with service users, or uncertain whether a particular course of action is appropriate, should consult with their line manager at the earliest opportunity.
16. Record Keeping
Records need to reflect all the work being done by workers and should also indicate working arrangements with staff in other agencies. Where a child is or was the subject of a child protection investigation, the importance of recording at all stages of the child protection process cannot be over-emphasised. The records should contain clear details of the investigation, assessments, the decisions agreed, the basis on which they were made and the plan on which the work is based.
In particular, workers and volunteers should record and have witnessed, if possible, any inappropriate behaviour towards workers or volunteers by a young person and witnessed any injuries which occur during activities.
17. Other safeguards
The following provides some guidelines for protecting young people, workers and volunteers:
· Where possible, workers and volunteers should not spend time alone with young people where they are unobserved by others – if there is a need to talk, ask the young person if they would like to bring a friend, move into view of others or leave the door open. If it is absolutely necessary to have a private conversation, the worker or volunteer should tell another staff member where they are going to be;
· Workers and volunteers should watch out for each other. Are other workers or volunteers being drawn into situations which could be misinterpreted? How workers and volunteers look to each other is a good indication of how it will look to parents and others outside the group;
· Workers and volunteers must be aware of how and where they touch young people (see the Department of Health categories listed below);
· Workers and volunteers should not have, or be perceived to have, favourites or less favoured service users – treat everyone equally;
· Workers and volunteers should avoid giving young people lifts outside of Inspiration organised activities;
· Workers must not take young people to their home. Volunteers should not take young people to their home in the course of Inspiration organised activities. During the time they are volunteering with Inspiration, they must record brief details about any home visits made;
· If a worker does take a young person somewhere in their car (for example, to a work placement visit), they must tell a colleague where they are going and approximately how long they expect to be. The service user should sit in the back seat of the car. The worker must ensure they have a mobile phone with them in case of delay or any other problem;
· Workers and volunteers must never use physical punishments or any which involve locking a child up;
· Workers and volunteers should not, under normal circumstances, touch service users. Where it is unavoidable (if, for example, the service user has had an accident and needs to be examined), the worker or volunteer should consider how their behaviour might be construed by others;
· Workers and volunteers must ensure meetings with service users outside agreed working arrangements are avoided. Should staff come across a service user in a social setting, they should try to move away from that setting so they are not placed in a vulnerable position. If that is not possible, conduct must remain, as it would be within working arrangements. Staff should pay particular attention to their behaviour while service users are in the vicinity;
· Workers and volunteers must avoid buying goods from, or using the services of, service users or their friends
· Workers and volunteers must avoid accepting money or gifts from service users. Staff should remember that refusing to accept a gift may cause offence and should be done graciously
· Avoid giving money or gifts to service users which could be construed as offering an unequal or discriminating service to tenants
· Do not borrow money from service users
18. Definitions of Abuse.
18.1.The Department of Health uses the following categories of abuse:
Emotional actual or likely severe adverse effect on the emotional and behavioural development of a child caused by persistent or severe emotional ill-treatment or rejection. All abuse involves some emotional ill-treatment, but this term is used when it is the main form of abuse. May include sarcasm, degrading comments or punishment, threats of withdrawal of love and affection.
Neglect the persistent or severe neglect of a child, or the failure to protect a child from exposure to any kind of danger, including cold or starvation, or extreme failure to carry out important aspects of care, resulting in the significant impairment of the child’s health or development, including non-organic failure to thrive. Includes denial of food, medical attention, warmth and shelter and may in some cases include being thrown out of home.
Physical Actual or likely physical injury to a child, or failure to prevent physical injury (or suffering) to a child including deliberate poisoning, suffocation and Munchausen’s syndrome by proxy. Common physical abuse includes punching, kicking, hitting and may even lead to death or serious injury.
Sexual actual or likely exploitation of a child or adolescent. The child may be dependent and/or developmentally immature. Covers any sexual act in which an adult pressurises or forces a young person to take part and can include kissing, touching of sexual organs or breast or forcing to touch adult sexual organs; it also includes looking at pornographic materials.
These categories for child protection register purposes do not tie in precisely with the definition of 'significant harm' ’n section 31 of the Children Act 1989, which will be relevant if court proceedings are initiated. For example, with a case of neglect, it will be necessary to consider whether it involves actual or likely significant harm, and whether it involves ‘ill-treatment’ or ‘impairment of health or development’ (in each case as defined by the Act). The courts may well provide an interpretation of ‘sexual abuse’ (which is not defined in the Act) which is different from that used above in particular cases, in which case their definition should be used in relation to those cases.
All the following may be indicators of abuse, but may also be signs of things other than abuse. If a worker suspects that an injury may not have been an accident or is worried about a sudden change in a young person’s personality, it should be discussed with colleagues and a line manager in the first instance.
19. Signs of Emotional Abuse
The following may be indicators of abuse:
· Disruptive, withdrawn or abusive behaviour
· Telling lies
· Difficulty with bonding
· Nervousness, attention seeking or running away
· Sudden or significant changes in patterns of behaviour or in looks
· Very low self esteem
· Statements made, particularly in certain contexts
· Strange values or morals
· Recurrent physical symptoms for which there is no clear explanation
20. Signs of Neglect
The following may be indicators of neglect:
· Being hungry, malnourishment, being small in stature
· Being inappropriately dressed
· Being left alone at home
· Parent(s)/guardian(s) never being present
· Being dirty, smelly or unkempt
· Being tired or hyperactive
· Truanting from school
· A lack of possessions
· Lack of interest in their birthday or special occasions
· Recurring or lingering illnesses which are not attended to
21. Signs of physical abuse
The following may be indicators of physical abuse:
· Presence of burns, cuts or bruises, particularly if persistent, on odd places, on the head, lied about or poorly explained
· Fear of being touched or touching others, particularly of being picked up
· Unusual, withdrawn, disruptive or abusive behaviour
· Being scared of going home
· Hearing information about possible abuse from other people
22. Signs of sexual abuse
· Re-enactment of abusive behaviour
· Self-mutilation
· Withdrawal or aggression
· Pregnancy
· Paying particular attention to adults
· Early sexual relationships
· Sore genitals
· Fear of being touched
· Actively seeking touch
23. Additional support for children and young people
Each project should nominate a staff member who – with appropriate training – is available for young people to discuss issues of abuse. Should a young person want to talk to someone independent of the project, staff could suggest the following services:
Child Line(national freephone helpline) 0800 1111
NSPCC (freephone 24 hour helpline) 0800 800500
PARENTLINE (helpline) 0808 800 2222
These phone numbers should be made widely available to staff, volunteers and users of the project, including by signs clearly displayed in offices where young people can see them.
For more information read the Home Office publication Safe from harm: A code of practice for safeguarding the welfare of children in voluntary organisations in England and Wales.
24. Cross Authority reporting and liaison arrangements.
24.1. Inspiration 's Child Protection Policy provides the framework within which child protection issues should be handled. Specific procedural arrangements for reporting child protection issues may differ between the Local Authorities in which schemes are located. Each scheme must establish liaison arrangements with their Local Authority Child Protection Unit. The referral arrangements for each Local Authority are summarised below:
What Information will you be asked for?
Be prepared to give as much of the following information as possible:
· Name, D.O.B and address of child and other children in the family (include all names used by family members, with correct spellings, so that records checks can be made);
· Name, address and contact numbers for parent/carers, and who has parental responsibility (if known);
· Name of child’s school, GP and other agencies involved, if known;
· Nature of concern, when it was first noticed, and by whom;
· Description of mark if the child has suffered an injury;
· What, if anything, the child has said;
· Whether you have spoken to the child's parents;
· Any previous concerns about the child, changes of behaviour or major life events.
You will then be asked to follow up the telephone referral in writing, preferably by faxing a written report. Wherever possible the inter-agency referral form should be used.
If Social Services, in discussion with the Police, decide it is necessary to carry out a Child Protection enquiry, you may be invited to attend either a Strategy Meeting or a Sexual Abuse Planning Meeting. As the referrer, with knowledge of the child and family, your involvement may be very helpful in planning what action is taken.
If the referral involves suspicions of physical abuse the family will be approached and the child seen within 24 hours of the referral. The time scale for responding to allegations of sexual abuse is different (see below).
You should be notified of the outcome of the child protection enquiry but if that has not happened ring the duty social worker for feedback.
You may also be invited to attend an Initial Child Protection Conference.
Referrals of suspected Child Abuse should be made to:
· the child's allocated social worker, if applicable;
· The Police Child Protection Team (020 8247 7843) where there are immediate criminal concerns; or
London Borough of Wandsworth.
· the Social Services Duty and Assessment Team (Tel. 020 8871 6622 or
Fax 020 8871 6333)
· The Out of Hours Duty Social Worker (020 8871 6000)
London Borough of Croydon.
· Social Services, Children & Families Duty Team 020 8239 4268/9
London Borough of Merton.
· Social Services, Referral and Assessment Duty Team 020 8545 420